The State Port
USfMl
Soutfi BNlfiswick opens
football practice with four
new assistant coaches — 1C
Nek
Inii^.Mtt iiinVnr If -
Brunswick
College’s gn
cises held Sa
future
power
Deregulation
of providers
to impact city
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Sometime soon, possibly around
the turn of the century, North Caro
linians will be able to choose the com
panies that sell them electricity for
home use, just as they pick and choose
long-distance telephone companies
today.
Deregulation of the electric indus
try will allow that. It will usher-in a
totally open marketplace for electric
consumers and radically change the
way electric generators, electric trans
mitters «nd electric distributors do
business.
Deregulation will directly affect the
City of Southport as a municipal
power distributor and it will directly
affect the city 's consortium of power
buyers Eastern Municipal Power
Agency and its administrative arm.
Electricities.
How cities like Southport — and the
power agencies themselves — prepare
for the imminent deregulation of the
electric industry was the prime topic
of discussion as Electricities mem
bers met in Raleigh last week. Aider
man Paul Fisher and city manager
' See Power, page 9
Posher
Proposal
may avert
bed appeal
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
Dosher Memorial Hospital trustees
Friday reviewed a proposed agree
ment to settle an appeal filed by Mag
nolia Health Care against state ap
proval of Dosher's application to con
struct 60 skilled nursing beds.
Magnolia Health Care, which pro
posed to include the skilled nursing
beds as part of a larger retirement
community at Supply, filed the appeal
two months ago with the state Office
of Administrative Hearings.
The proposed settlement of the ap
peal will be forwarded to the Certifi
cate of Need section of the N. C. De
partment of Human Resources,
Haywood said. That agency will re
view the proposal in conjunction with
the state attorney general's office and
is expected to render a decision on the
See Appeal, page 10
. ruuio »v Jim narper
ino question ot who s the proud one here. In time, ten-month-old Jena Marie Walton of Long Beach will be
proud of her dad, Frederick Walton, for his graduation from Brunswick Community College on Saturday
night, but for the moment she is just interested in his tassels. More college graduation photos, stories in
Neighbors section.
Highway 211 corridor
Bond notes will fund
first SBSD sewer line
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
N. C. Local Government Commission Tuesday ap
proved issuance of $ 1.1 million of bond anticipation notes
for the Southeast Brunswick Sanitary District.
Also approved by the division of the state treasurer’s
office charged with seeing to the credit-worthiness of lo
cal governments was a loan of nearly $1 million from a
state revolving fund administered by the N. C. Division
of Environmental Management.
The bond anticipation note and loan approval will al
low commissioners to award construction bids for a first
See Sewer, page 7
Wastewater flow from the N.
C. 211 corridor project will be
transmitted to Southport for
treatment at that city’s
treatment plants
Market values
County looks
to four-year
revaluation
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Brunswick County may cut its
property revaluation cycle in half,
from eight years to every four years,
to keep up with changes in market
value that drain the county of poten
tial ad valorem tax dollars.
The last revaluation process was in
1994 with another scheduled for
2002, but the Brunswick County
Board of Commissioners on Monday
indicated it may want to go on a four
year cycle of readjusting property
values as early as 2000.
“In counties where you have the
diversity, it may be a good consider
ation,” said Brunswick County tax
administrator Boyd Williamson. His
department can perform a revaluation
on the county’s 100,000 parcels in 18
months.
The problem is that under state law
all property assessments for tax pur
poses are based on the year of the last
county revaluation, in this case 1994,
rather than on the current market
‘I think you should
reappraise not
because of the level
but because one
group of citizens is
being penalized at
the expense of
others.’
Bill Connolly
Appraisal director
value.
For example, if lots in one subdi
vision sold for $25,000 in 1994 but
sell for $40,000 today, all would be
valued at $25,000 on today's tax
books to prevent inequities among
See County, page 10
Regional water
plan of interest
to Long Beach
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
While the Town of Long Beach has
committed over $ 100,000 to develop
ment of a municipal groundwater
source, it may be open to taking on
partners in development of a regional
drinking water system, mayor Joan
Altman said this week.
Last week, Caswell Beach mayor
Joe O'Brien mulled over options to
assure that town a reliable, cost-ef
fective drinking water source for the
future. He said Caswell Beach’s best
option was as a partner in ownership
of a regional water recovery and treat
ment system.
Long Beach and Caswell Beach
now both buy treated drinking water
from Brunswick County. But, dis
tressed by Brunswick County’s
wholesale price increases, perceived
poor water system managment prac
tices and inability to provide long
Candidate filing period ends quietly
Crowe, Altman unopposed; primary in Lons Beach
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Mayors Bill Crowe of Southport and Joan P. Altman of Long
Beach will succeed themselves in municipal elections of 1997,
barring a successful write-in campaign, but Boiling Spring Lakes
voters this year will chose a new mayor from among six candi
dates who want that job.
With the Friday noon closing of the period in which citizens
may file notice of candidacy for election to municipal and other
local government offices past, voters now have a clear view of
their options for local leadership.
Mayors Crowe and Altman will be unchallenged in their bids
for reelection. Multi-term mayor Mark Stewart of Boiling Spring
Lakes has decided not to stand for reelection, but there is no
shortage ot people who want his job.
While the mayor's race in Long Beach won't generate a non
partisan primary election, 14 candidates for six seats on Long
Beach Town Council will force an October 4 primary during
which two will be eliminated. The purpose of the non-partisan
primary election is to narrow the field of candidates to two per
available seat.
Of other general observations that can be made at the close
of the filing period, it can be said there will be little excitement
in Caswell Beach this election year. Incumbents Bill Bovd and
Paul OConnor were the only candidates to emergi and will
succeed themselves barring a successful write-in c.indK*«^__
Here is a breakdown of the candidates who will stand for
election in 1997:
Southport
Mayor: Will iam (Bill) Crowe. 70, of 101 North Atlantic Av
enue.
Aldermen Ward 1 (vote for two): Incumbent Jim Brown,
58, of 230 River Drive; incumbent Paul Darrel Fisher, 63, of
110 River Drive; Paula D. Spelts, 620 North Howe Street.
Alderman Ward II (vote for one): Wayne Hewett, 47, 402
Burrington Avenue; Alleyah McKenzie-Muhammad, 58, 911
North Caswell Avenue; incumbent Philo N. (Phil) Joyner, 58,
812 North Caswell Avenue.
Long Beach
Mayor: Joan P Altman, 44, 109-27th Street SW.
Councilors (vote for six): incumbent Frances Allen, 68, 201
See Filing, page 11
‘Once we have those
results in hand, we
will be able to speak
with other towns
and communities
about their water
needs.’
Joan Altman
Long Beach mayor
term price projections. Long Beach
Town Council last year made up to
$300,000 available to study the fea
sibility of a municipal groundwater
recovery and treatment system.
Caswell Beach has engaged in an
all-out examination of its role in pro
viding water to residents, property
owners and visitors of the town. That
examination - which includes future
water supply options - was prompted
See Water, page 10
INSIDE
Opinions 4
Police report 9
Obituaries 12
TV schedule 4B
Calendar 4B
Church SB
Notices 7C
District Court 8C
Classifieds ID
Business 12D
TOP STORIES ON THE
Hmrcma
www.southport.ne